Eagles Softball Improves to 4-2 With Two Victories

Renae Hobbs picked up the complete game victory in game one, and also had four hits and scored three runs on the day as Juniata earned a pair of victories in Myrtle Beach.

Juniata 7, St. Catharine 4
Juniata 8, Villa Julie 3

Myrtle Beach, S.C. ? With a pair of strong all-around performances the Juniata College softball team earned a sweep on its third day of competition at the Snowbird Softball Tournament in Myrtle Beach, as the Eagles down St. Catharine College 7-4 and then claimed an 8-3 victory over Villa Julie in the second game on Wednesday. The pair of wins brought Juniata?s record to 4-2 on the season.

Juniata took control early in the first game of the day, as the Blue and Gold pushed across four runs in the first inning against St. Catharine. Kim Wagner (Middletown/Middletown), Renae Hobbs (Mount Union/Mount Union) and Allison D?Ambrosia (State College/Boalsburg) opened the game with three consecutive and then Abby Sener (Donegal/Marietta) followed with a double to make the score 3-0. Leann Leymeister (Blue Mountain/Orwigsburg) followed with a single to score Sener and the Eagles had a 4-0 edge.

Those runs would be enough for Hobbs who went all seven innings to claim her first win of the season. The junior hurler scattered seven hits in allowing four runs on the game, while striking out a pair.

After the home team scored one run in the bottom of the second, Juniata added three more runs in the top of the fourth inning to help put the game out of reach. Hobbs helped her own cause by driving in Amanda Albanese (North Hunterdon/Clinton, N.J.) and Wagner with a double, and then came home herself to make the score 7-1.

St. Catharine would added two runs in the bottom of the fifth, and then get another run and get two runners on base in the seventh. But Hobbs forced back-to-back groundouts to get out of the jam and end the game.

Wagner finished the game 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Hobbs and Leymeister were both 2-for-3.

In game two a pair of Eagle pitchers limited Villa Julie to just six hits and the Eagles sent 11 players to the plate in the third inning as Juniata claimed the 8-3 win.

Jessica Darrow (Wellsboro/Wellsboro) pitched five innings and surrendered three runs and six hits to capture the victory. Lizzie Bartosik (Penn/Granger, In.) came on and did not allow a base runner in the final two frames.

Juniata again got started quickly as the Blue and Gold scored three in the bottom of the first. Sener delivered a two-run triple to get things started, and then came home on a Leymeister single.

The Eagles added four more runs in the third as Juniata pounded out seven hits in the inning. Villa Julie countered with a pair of runs in the fourth, and one more in the fifth before Juniata tacked on one run in the bottom of the fifth to reach the final margin.

Wagner again led the offense as she finished 3-for-4 with a run scored. Hobbs, Sener, Darrow and Kim Stoia (Morris Hills/Rockaway, N.J.) all finished with two hits for the Eagles.

Juniata will wrap up its play on its Spring Break trip on Thursday as the Eagles play two more contests.